Requiem for a Cowboy
by Anubis Monori
Summary: My take on what happens after Spike kills Vicious.


Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Cowboy Bebop, and I doubt anything I write will ever be half as incredible as that anime.

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"Bang." With that final word, Spike crumpled to the ground.

Moments later Faye rushed inside the Syndicate, practically pushing open the doors. She saw Spike, gasped, and ran up the stairs to him. While kneeling on the steps, she turned over his body so that he was facing upwards and cradled his head in her lap. She then slapped him. "Damnit, Spike, wake up! You've gone through a hell of a lot worse than this and come out alive, so open your eyes!" She slapped him again. "Wake up!" She waited a second longer before turning to the surviving members of the Red Dragon. "Don't just stand there, do something!"

Up to the point they had all been too dumbfounded to move. The minute Spike walked in and dropped the grenade his intent was obvious: to kill Vicious. And now, coming down those steps, meant that he must've…

One man finally spoke up. "He's killed a countless number of our men and assassinated our leader. We have no reason to help him." He raised his gun at her. "Or you." The others followed suit.

Faye groaned. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered. She looked around, counting eleven guards before looking back down at Spike. She managed to grin. "If you get shot, don't blame me."

After carefully putting Spike's head down, Faye stood up slowly with her hands in the air. She suddenly whipped out her gun and fired off two shots. They both hit their mark; one man was shot in the head and the other in the chest, and she took off running before the others could react.

Faye jumped into a pit that had once been an escalator. She then realized how few bullets she'd brought with her. What was left was in the gun and then she had one extra clip. _I should've seen this coming,_ she thought, kicking herself.

Two men turned the corner and started firing at Faye. She managed to kill them, but not before one of their bullets hit her left arm. She ran behind a piece of rubble. _Damnit! I'll end up looking like Spike by the time this is over._ She checked her gun, and sighed as she reloaded it._ And I'm down to my last clip._

At that point she, and everyone else in the room, heard sirens. At first they were distant, but it sounded as if they were quickly coming closer. Although their voices were quiet, Faye could make out parts of what the other syndicate members were saying.

"…think someone actually…"

"…if they know Vicious is dead?"

"How would…"

"That doesn't change…"

"Quit being…. We have a…"

Seeing her opportunity, Faye switched her gun to her left hand and jumped up, grabbing on the edge of the stairs with her right and swinging herself out of the pit. She started running, ignoring the yells. Shooting behind her once every few seconds was enough to keep them from following too closely.

Reaching the second floor, Faye saw that a window to her right was her best exit out. She used her remaining bullets to shoot the glass. She stopped, looking one last time at Spike. _Spike…_ The sound of another gunshot brought Faye back to the present. She ran at the window, covered her face with her good arm, and jumped through it. After hitting the ground with a roll, she immediately stood up. "Those sirens are still coming…. I know my car is on this side of the building, where…? Got it!" She looked around for a moment before finally spotting her car. Without worrying about the dirt or blood, she jumped in and sped off.

-----

Jet set down two bowls of stew. "How are you feeling?"

Faye's arm was bandaged and she had a towel wrapped around the back of her neck. Her hair was damp. "Well, the bullet's out and I just had a wonderful shower. It should be obvious."

He handed her chopsticks with a small smile. "Good to hear." He turned on the television and they began eating.

An anchor was just looking up from his papers to the camera. "In local news, the major crime syndicate known as the 'Red Dragon' was taken down today by police. Only seven members were arrested when police raided the syndicate headquarters. Sources say the leader was also to be arrested, but attacked the officers, and was shot and killed."

The screen suddenly turned to what was the interview of a policeman. "One of our guys was placing Vicious in handcuffs when he punched him and grabbed his gun. I took mine, and fired before he was able to. I do regret that we were never able to give this criminal the justice he deserved, but I think I speak for everyone when I say I am glad that this man is off the streets."

"What a bunch of bullshit," Faye and Jet muttered at the same time.

The screen turned back to the anchor. "Unfortunately, police found one man already dead upon entering." A picture of Spike appeared next to him. "No identification was found on him, and we currently know nothing about him. If you have any information, please call the number–"

Jet muted the television and looked at Faye in surprise. "You were right there, weren't you? Why didn't you go and at least identify the body?"

Faye stopped eating. She looked down at her food. "Spike's already got a girl," she said softly. "Julia. He doesn't need me."

"Then why'd you go down to Mars in the first place?" Jet asked inquisitively.

Faye concentrated on her bowl. "I wanted to stop him. I knew he was throwing his life away; hell, he knew it, too. I hoped he would realize that there was more to it than Julia and Vicious." She looked up at Jet. "And what about you? You're Spike's best friend, why not go down yourself?"

Jet sighed. "…In my opinion, Spike went back there to finish what he'd started in the past. He died in the past. I'm just not a part of his past." He shrugged, trying to make it look as if this was an easy decision. _Spike never talked to me about it much, anyway._

They both stayed silent as they continued eating. Jet finally spoke up. "So, what now?"

Faye set down her bowl. "I think I'm going to stay on Mars." Jet raised an eyebrow. "This ship holds too many memories. I finally got all of mine back, and a hell of a lot of good it did me."

Jet simply nodded in response. He didn't like the fact that now Faye was also leaving, but also knew she was too stubborn to argue with. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll keep looking for bounties. Maybe I'll get a desk job. Maybe I'll go back to working in casinos." She smiled at the last comment.

"When do you plan on leaving?"

"When do you?"

"I was going to leave Mars later tonight, but I can stay…"

"Nah, I won't hold you up. I can start packing now." Faye stood, pulling the towel over her shoulder. "Plus, I should put this away. Thanks for the meal." She headed out.

"At least someone appreciates my cooking." Jet chuckled. He took a moment before grabbing up both bowls and going into the kitchen. He set everything in the sink and noticed that the dishes from Spike's last meal also still needed to be washed. He turned the water on, and… stopped. He stared at the running water, drifting off. His mind went back to Spike; not only to the last few days, but all of the years he'd known him. All of the tight scrapes they'd just barely managed to escape, the firefights, the countless number of bounties…

"You might want to add some soap." Jet looked up. Faye was standing in the doorway. He looked back down and turned the water off. "This? I can take care of it later. Are you leaving?"

"Yeah," Faye replied. "I don't have a lot to bring, so it didn't take too long to pack. You seemed to keep yourself busy."

Jet shook his head, smiling. "I'll just ignore that last comment. Come on, I can take you down to your ship."

Faye put her hands up. "No need to act like a gentleman. We've known each other long enough. Go ahead and wash the dishes; I still need to load up anyway." Before Jet could say anything else, she was out the door.

He sighed. Still, he turned the water back on, this time adding soap, and washed the dishes. Even though he tried to shake it off, now the words of Spike's tiger-striped cat story lingered on his mind. Finishing as quickly as he could, he hurried down to the hangar bay. He walked in and saw Faye struggling with a large suitcase. He went over to her. "Need help?"

"Hm?" She turned around. "Oh. No, I got it." She tried to pick it up again, but the baggage wouldn't move.

"Let me get it." Jet took Faye's suitcase and picked it up, using both of his hands to hoist it into the Red Tail. He struggled with it almost as much as she did. _Good Lord, what did she pack in there?_ "There you go. I hope that wasn't too gentlemanly for you."

Faye smiled. "No, it wasn't. Good thing it had wheels, though, or you would've had to carry it from my room."

"Are you kidding? You would've dragged that thing!" Jet and Faye laughed. The moment passed, and they both ended up standing next to each other, silent. Neither knew what to say.

Faye was the first to speak up. "So… I guess this is good-bye." She looked up at him.

"Yeah… I guess so." Jet looked back at her before holding out his hand. "Well, it's been a pleasure."

Faye glanced down at his hand. She hesitated, then pushed it aside and kissed him on the cheek. "Good-bye, Jet." She turned and climbed into the Red Tail.

Jet smiled, then exited the hangar. He walked upstairs and watched through the windows as Faye's ship blasted off. She never once looked back at him or the Bebop. He reached up and touched his cheek. "Take care, Faye…"

Jet let out a heavy sigh. He felt tired and he had barely done anything. _It's been a long day, _he tried telling himself. Shaking his head, he walked out and across the ship, heading to his bonsai trees. Once in the room, he sat in his chair, picking up his clippers and the first tree he happened to see. "Well, at least you guys are still here."

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